THENEGRO 195 Before this contribution of Mr. Carpenter's appeared in the Star, United States Senator John J. Ingalls had published a long article, on this subject, in The Chicago Tribune (Sunday, May 28, 1893, p. 2?). The article was entitled " Always a Problem," and Senator In- galls sent me a marked copy of the same, inviting my attention to it. I very much regret that the contribu- tion is altogether too long to incorporate in this place, as it is pregnant with valuable facts on the history of the African negro in America, from various points of view. Senator Ingalls, however, did not believe that race union would ever take place, and in the afore- said article passed the following opinion upon it, to wit: — NO HOPE OF RACE UNION Frederick Douglass is perhaps the widest known and most distinguished representative of the negro race. He is an eloquent, accomplished, and dignified gentleman. His father was a white man and his mother a slave. It is perhaps not invidious nor un- civil to affirm that the distinction of Douglass is not on account of this African blood, but in spite of it. The intellectual traits, qualities, and characteristics which have given him renown are due to his Anglo- Saxon re-enforcement. He once said to me that he be- lieved the white and black races were not inherent but causal, and that there was a temporary prejudice that would be obliterated, so that they would eventually coalesce and the race question thus be effaced and dis- appear. There are no indications at present that this prophecy will be verified. Instead of vanishing the repugnance appears to be more distinct and emphatic. Mr. Douglass bravely acted upon his theory, but his example has not been followed nor seriously approved. Whether justly or unjustly, African blood is re- garded by the Caucasian as a taint to be abhorred. The discovery of an unsuspected negro strain by the heroine is the tragic motive of one of Howells' most
